One Man's Villain
by megafest7
Summary: A.U. Aizen decides to bring his Lieutenant with him to Hueco Mundo. The results shock everyone, even him. T for language, violence, and eventual character deaths.
1. Prolouge: The Invitation

"Behind ya." The Third Division Captain's smirk grew even wider, if that was possible.

"Behind... me?" Hinamori reluctantly turned her back on the fox of a man before her. When she saw the man standing behind her, she forgot that Gin even existed.

Captain Aizen stood there, smiling as warmly as he always did.

"Captain...?" Hinamori hardly dared to believe what she was seeing. Her captain had been murdered just days before, brutally staked onto a wall with his own sword. But here he was, standing in the doorway.

"It's been a while, Hinamori-kun." He said it calmly, as though dying was something he did every Tuesday. She slowly walked over to him, barely able to stand from shock and disbelief.

"Captain Aizen... Is it really you, Captain?"

"In the flesh." He smiled. "I'm not a ghost, Hinamori-kun."

She touched him hesitantly, worried that he would disappear at any moment. Now she could feel him. _I can feel him! It's really him!_

"I'm truly sorry to have worried you so."

She threw her arms around him and pressed herself close, the propriety she usually maintained vanishing in joy. She could feel him awkwardly returning her gesture, gently placing his hands on her back as she whimpered, half from her restrained grief, half from joy.

"I had something to do, something to prepare for. I had to fake my death."

"I understand. It's already enough... that you're still alive." She rested her head on her Captain, the uncertainty and grief that had shaken her world to it's core beginning to disappear.

"Thank you, Hinamori-kun. Soon, I hope, you truly will understand. I am thankful to have you as my subordinate."

_Thankful... _"Weakest Leutenant in Seiretei," that's what some called her. Just yesterday she'd heard the guards at the cell joking in the hall, saying that she was as weak in mind as in body. It had started with the Eleventh Division, but had spread. She was barely worthy of her rank, yet here was Captain Aizen, actually thankful to have her...

"I am so sorry, Hinamori-kun. And now, I must ask too much of you again." She looked up, confused, into his suddenly serious face.

"I don't understand," she stammered, "what do you mean?"

"Today I'm going to leave Seiretei." She recoiled in shock, but her Captain put a hand on her shoulder, steadying her. "What I'm going to do today will seem shocking, but I ask you to trust me. I want you to come with me."

"What? Why are you leaving, where are you going?" She was barely able to get the words out, her legs almost collapsed under her. _Captain Aizen, leaving?! Go with him?_

"I'll have to explain that later, Hinamori-kun. For now, I must be going. I'll have to leave you here for the time being. You can't be simply swept up in events, or you'll be indecisive later. Where I'm going, indecision is deadly."

"What?" It was still taking time to sink in, and these dark hints were starting to scare her. "Where are you going? What about the rest of the division?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to learn my destination from someone other than me. It's unfortunate, they'll probably tell you a hopelessly exaggerated version of my departure. If you decide not to come, I will understand. It will shock you at first." He smiled, "As for the others, you may bring anyone you choose from the division, but you are the one I am most concerned with."

"Captain..." Hinamori was still trying to get over the shock of what he was saying. He was leaving? Of course she would follow him, what was he saying? But then, where was he going that could be so terrible?

"I know, Hinamori-kun, I know." He pulled her in close again, she relaxed a bit. "Forgive me, Hinamori-kun, but I want to spare you the rest of this day. Bakudo 8, Nemuru."

A light purple ray came from his hand to her head, putting her to sleep almost immediately. He lightly set her down on the floor and looked over at Gin, who was, of course, grinning.

"So, Captain Aizen, how do you think that went?"

"She'll come. I gave her hope, and something to prove." Aizen straitened up and turned to face the entrance. "I think Hitsugaya-kun has decided to pay us a visit. We should greet him."


	2. Who shall come?

"Hinamori-dono? Lieutenant?"

Hinamori's eyes snapped open. She was laying in her bed in the barracks, someone must have moved her there after Aizen put her to sleep. She sat up, hanging her legs off of the left side of her bed facing the entrance, and looked at the short, skinny blonde man who had woken her up.

"How long have I been asleep, Hidaka-san?"

The fourth seat grinned slightly, although he kept his hands in their usual place, behind his back. "Over 21 hours." His smile disappeared. "Whatever else one might say of our former Captain, his spells are incredible."

"_Former_ Captain? What did I miss, Armin?" Hinamori stood up sharply, forgetting formality in her alarm. Hearing Aizen described as a "Former Captain" was not something she had wanted to wake up to.

"There's no easy way to tell you this, Hinamori-dono, so I'll say it all at once. Aizen Sousuke has left Seiretei to join the Menos in Hueco Mundo. Ichimaru Gin and Kaname Tousen accompanied him. He nearly killed Captains Hitsugaya and Komamura, Lieutenant Abarai, and the Ryoka leader, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"What?!" Hinamori recoiled in shock and tripped back onto her bed. She was put a hand on the mattress behind her to steady herself. _He said he had a very good reason. What reason could possibly be good enough for THAT? What the hell is going on? No use worrying about it, I'm about to find out._ "Wait, Hidaka-san, did you say that he _tried_ to kill them?"

"They all survived, yes." He looked at her, deadly serious.

"Doesn't that seem odd to you? Didn't you wonder how Captain Aizen, especially after revealing that much power, could _fail_ to kill someone?" She had already made her decision, and it honestly hadn't been hard. Her captain needed her now more than he ever had. If she abandoned him now, she could never forgive herself and she knew it. The only question was, would she be going alone?

"What are you implying, Hinamori-dono? That he was not actually trying to kill them?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense!" She cried, jumping up and beginning to pace. The feeling of the softwood floor on her bare feet helped her to focus. Hidaka simply stood stoically in the doorway, watching.

Despite the official leadership structure of the Gotei Thirteen, every Division's internal workings were unique. No one in the Seventh Squad would ever say that they considered their Lieutenant anything more than the second strongest among them, and it was common knowledge that their Fifth Seat filled his leadership role within the Division. The Fifth Division didn't follow the structure to the letter, either. They had three people whom they would consider their leaders; Captain Aizen, Hinamori herself, and the young man she was currently talking to. He was a few years younger than she was, but had already earned the entire division's respect for his intelligence, cool head and total lack of fear. He wasn't powerful enough to get Lieutenant's rank, and he wasn't the type who could inspire soldiers to fight to the death. In fact, he was often incredibly short-tempered and brusque. Despite that, in the heat of battle, Hidaka Armin was the one the lower officers looked to for split-second decisions. If she could get him on her side, she could easily sway the whole Division.

"Even if you are right, Lieutenant, it doesn't change the fact that he betrayed us. Or do are you saying he didn't?" It would be a good idea to get straight to the point. She wasn't going to be able to convince him one way or the other. Either he would come or he wouldn't. _At least this part's easy._

"That's exactly what I'm saying." She stopped pacing and looked the fourth seat in the eye. He was one of the very few people in Seiretei who were about her height. "Before he left, Captain Aizen told me that he wanted me to follow after him when I was ready. He also told me that any other member of the division who wanted to join him was welcome, as well."

Hidaka stood back, shocked. "I don't think I need to ask what you're planning to do."

Hinamori stood still, keeping her eyes locked with his. She needed him to commit before she went to the rest of the Division. _Without him, my job gets that much harder._ _Time to put him on the spot, I don't have any time to waste._ "I think you've already guessed my plan. My loyalty is to Aizen Sousuke, above everyone and everything else. What about you, Hidaka Armin? What will you do?"

He paused for a split second. Then, he returned her stare with determined pride in his eyes. She knew for sure what he was going to say now.

"I have always followed Captain Aizen, and I have always followed you. Both of you have my unconditional support. Come, let's tell the Division that, just like our Captain, Seiretei itself is too small for us!" He almost shouted the last words in his excitement, then grinned. "Frankly, Lieutenant, Yamamoto's moronic handling of the entire Ryoka situation made me want to tear off after the Captain, anyway."

Hinamori laughed and put her hand on Hidaka's shoulder. "Go," she said, "ring the Division's meeting bell. I want everyone in the barrack's main hall by five minutes!"

"Hai!" He flash stepped off down the corridor, Hinamori went the other way, to the main hall. She arrived there in a few seconds, and looked around the huge room. It had a large, slightly raised platform next to the north wall, the rest of the room was bare except for the huge "Fifth Division" hangings on every wall. Only the person on the platform could stand, everyone else had to sit on the blue-carpeted floor. A medium-pitch gong rang out from somewhere to the west. The Division was gathering for the most important moment of their lives.

–––

In the Second Division barracks, Captain Soi Fon heard a faint ringing from the west. As Yamamoto had ordered her, she had been listening for this sound all night. She hadn't been expecting it to come just before sunrise, though. The Fifth Division was having a meeting, and now was their chance to find out why Aizen, a clearly murderous traitor, had left his Lieutenant unharmed.

"Oomaeda," she called.

"Yesh Captain?" He spoke through a banana in his mouth. _What a disgusting man_, Soi Fon thought bitterly. _HOW is he a Lieutenant and WHY THE HELL is he MINE?_

"Put your food down, you useless pig. You know your orders, go observe the Fifth Division's meeting."

"You're so mean, Captain!" The man whined loudly, quickly hiding a rice roll in his Gi.

"Shut up and carry out your orders, Oomaeda."

"Hai, hai." The obese Lieutenant rolled his eyes disrespectfully before leaving.

–––

The Fifth Division's main hall quickly filled with excited Shingami. The news that Lieutenant Hinamori was awake and had something important to say had the whole Division buzzing with rumors. The Lieutenant smiled softly to herself as the last soldier came into the hall, Hidaka close behind. Two thousand strong in unseated officers alone were present, with the officers included, there were 2499 Shinigami in the hall. The only one missing was the Captain himself. _It won't be that way for long. I'll make sure of it._

Hidaka closed the huge double door of the barracks behind him and flash stepped up to the platform, where he stood behind and to the right of Hinamori.

"Attention! Oi! Shut up!" He called over the crowd's excited chatter. "The Lieutenant has something to say that I guarantee merits your undivided attention."

_I'll say this for Armin's people skills, he knows how to get attention!_ Hinamori was amazed at how quickly the crowd went silent. All eyes were on her, the adrenaline rush was driving her crazy. She hadn't been this nervous since her first day in the Fifth. Even battles didn't make her feel this nervous! She tried desperately to steel herself. _Now or never, Momo, now or never._

"To be or not to be, that is the question I want to ask you this morning. Our situation, however, is far more promising than that of the young Danish Prince so long ago." Hinamori started with a reference to the production of "Hamlet" that the Captain had done with the squad two months ago. It had been a huge hit with the entire Seiretei, and the Captain had agreed that the fifth would do "Macbeth" next year. Even though he would certainly not be fulfilling this promise, it would bring back some of the Division's favorite memories. _Or maybe he will be fulfilling it, with himself in the title role... No! I won't let that happen!_

"Yesterday afternoon, our Captain left the Soul Society. You know this all too well, some of you even saw it yourselves. Although our situation may seem hopeless, we should not despair. I have excellent news. He has not abandoned us."

The Division began whispering among themselves in shock. What was she saying? _Good, I have their full attention._ This was starting to get easier. Words now flew from her mouth in a way she had never experience before. She stood straighter now as she faced her men, more confident than anyone had ever seen their formerly timid second in command.

"No, I say it again, he has not left us behind!" Her clear voice sounded over the chatter without raising to a shout, commanding the ears of over two thousand warriors with its presence. "Captain Aizen left with me a message for us all. We are all welcome to go and stand by his side once more. We can become much, much more than we are now. We can continue to be what we have always been, the loyal warriors of the greatest Shinigami ever born!" She let her voice rise slightly with enthusiasm as she raised her fist in the air. "That, comrades, is why I say we can choose 'to be or not to be!' We can fly to our Captain's side and, with him, seek new heights. We could bring hope and peace to the hellish lives of the Rungokai villagers. We could reshape the entire structure of Soul Society. We could put an end to the oldest war in history, the war between Hollows and Shinigami! No more would we have to watch our friends die! Nothing would be beyond us!" She paused for effect, and for another reason. She felt someone spying on them, someone who thought they were hiding their reatsu. She quickly glanced at Armin, who nodded and flash stepped away.

"Or, we can choose 'not to be' a fraction of what we could be. We can choose to be just another Division, what's more a Division without a Captain. We can find ourselves trapped in fighting for an system we all know to be obsolete and corrupt. We can choose to be agents of simple fear, more concerned with killing random Hollows than helping our own families in Rungokai!" She could see that her tactic of picking on the 46's handling of Rungokai was working to perfection. The soldiers of the Fifth Division came primarily from the poorer districts of that huge shantytown, and most of them rankled at the fact that they were not allowed to police the area, or try to bring peace to the crime-riddled city.

"We can choose to be without our Captain for the rest of our lives, knowing that we deserted him when he needed us most! We can choose," she paused, then pointed violently to the Second Division's Lieutenant as Armin dropped him onto the floor behind her, "to be spied upon for the rest of our lives, never trusted again because our Captain had the courage to challenge what we dared not face!" Hinamori allowed her voice to rise to a true shout for the first time.

Several division members stood up and shouted in outrage. Yamamoto and the others were actually spying on them, and the fact that they had sent the much-detested, incompetent Oomaeda gave the offense an air of condescension. Now even those who had been shocked by Hinamori's "treasonous" speech were taking her side in their anger. _Perfect. I couldn't have asked for better timing!_

She looked behind Oomaeda at Armin quizzically, wondering how he had so quietly and easily subdued a Lieutenant. He grinned widely, mouthed, "He was eating," and pointed to a half-eaten rice roll lying on the floor next to the would-be eavesdropper. She laughed loudly and flashed him a thumbs-up. He simply nodded his thanks, the grin still on his face.

Kobayashi Alexander, the Division's seventh seat, drew himself up to his full 6 foot 5 height. "Tell us, Pig, what's your side of this story? Why were you spying on us?" The rest of the Division called out in agreement. Kobayashi glared down at the prostrate Oomaeda. His thin-framed glasses glinted in the torchlight, which only served to make the massive Russian even more intimidating.

Oomaeda was more flustered than he'd ever been in his life. He, Oomaeda, Lieutenant of Second Division and of the Secret Mobile Corps, had been discovered and captured by a fourth seat. The fourth seat of the "Dork Division" no less! (Oomaeda had come up with that himself, he was quite proud of his own "immeasurable" cleverness.)

"What are you idiots even thinking? I thought nerds were supposed to be smart!" Oomaeda decided to try to intimidate them. He blundered to his feet. "Do you think that we'll let Aizen get away? I'll tell you why you should stay, you twits! If you leave, we'll kill you! No mercy for traitors!"

"So let me get this straight," their black-haired third seat interrupted, "you're saying that the only reason we should stay is _fear_?" Kondo Arata jumped over to the platform and started shouting directly in Oomaeda's face. "You faggot! What kind of cowards do you think we are? Go fuck your cat, you bitch!"

Their Division hothead pulled back his fist, grabbing Oomaeda's lapel with his left hand, and roared. The rest of the squad jumped up, ready for action. Kondo would have started a full-blown brawl if Armin hadn't grabbed his wrist before he could throw his punch.

"Please control yourself, Kondo-san. We should decide what we are going to do before we do it." Kondo reluctantly backed off, never taking his eyes off Oomaeda.

"Ok, then, Hidaka-san, what are your thoughts on all this?" asked Kondo. All eyes were on Armin now.

"It comes down to a choice between our Captain and an old man who only drew his sword once when his country was attacked. When Yamamoto drew his sword, did he raise it against the Ryoka? No, he tried to kill his two best men! I would never fight for a room with 46 empty seats over our Captain, given the choice. I go."

"Sasha-dono? What do you think?" One of the youngest recruits called out for the seventh seat. Kobayashi smiled, he preferred this diminutive form of his name, and walked over to her.

"Armin-san and I have stood together since we were very young. I will follow him wherever he goes, and if he has chosen our Captain, so much the better." He put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled down at the girl. She was just a month out of the academy, and Sasha could see she was scared. "Don't worry." The girl's worried expression relaxed, she smiled timidly.

_Enough waiting, the sun's coming up. If we don't leave soon, we'll have to fight the whole damn Seiretei to get out!_

"So, Warriors of the Fifth, what is your decision?" Hinamori called.

The shout that greeted her was deafening, over two thousand voices roaring their desire to leave. _I did it. I actually did it!_

Oomaeda was stunned. An entire division was defecting before his eyes. He knew he had to do something, to convince them to back off. He stood up straight and shouted, "So this is how an entire Division of the Gotei 13 becomes a force of evil? Lead on into foolishness by the ramblings of a madwoman? Open your eyes, fools, Aizen is evil!"

Hinamori held up one hand to silence the uproar from the Division. They all fell silent, wondering anxiously what she would do next.

"One man's villain is another man's hero, Oomaeda. Get your gear, my friends! We travel light!"

**Hello, everyone! Thank you for reading my first fic!**

**I'm sorry if this chapter didn't turn out very well, but I had to set up the rest of the story somehow! I tried to make Hinamori's speech as epic as possible, did I overdo it / not do enough? Please, tell me how I did! Also, this is my first try at a female POV character, tell me how I'm doing with that too (if you want to, that is!)**

**If you need it, here's where I'll explain my non-translations and italics. I don't like translating honorifics, it just doesn't "work" for me. Also, the word "hai" really doesn't have an English translation. It's sort of like the German "Jawohl" for those who don't know. _Italics_ means that Hinamori (usually) is thinking the sentence.**

**My thanks to everyone who has already reviewed, and again thank you for reading this! **


	3. The Fifth No More

"My, my." Aizen Sousuke raised an eyebrow at the scene unfolding on his screen.

"What's goin' on, Aizen?" Ichimaru Gin wandered into the room and leaned on the wall, from where he could watch both Aizen and the screen.

"Come and see for yourself, Gin." Aizen replied, moving his swivel-chair slightly to the left, allowing Gin a place next to him. Gin, knowing he was beaten, moved up to stand closer. Aizen knew perfectly well that Gin could see the screen from where he was currently standing, but he wanted to be able to judge Gin's reaction. Gin watched him, he watched Gin. When Aizen was the one doing the watching, he rarely saw him doing anything constructive. Even Tousen was making himself useful finishing the construction of Las Noches, but Gin seemed to find nothing so fulfilling as wandering around the half-completed corridors and harassing Arrancar, the Espada were his favorite targets.

Aizen looked back at the screen, keeping Gin in the corner of his eye. An almost life size Hinamori Momo took up the majority of Aizen's viewer. She was somehow carrying multiple large packages over one shoulder while barking out orders and pointing in various directions with the other arm. Kobayashi suddenly appeared behind her, carrying six boxes stacked up higher than his head, and tried to get her attention. His face registered slight confusion, which changed to shock when she violently collided with him. Kobayashi, over half again Hinamori's weight despite not having an ounce of fat on his body, was unaffected. Hinamori, however, fell disgracefully over backward and hit her head on a wall. Gin chuckled as Kobayashi ran over to help her up and get her packages back together.

"Looks like she's in a li'l over her head, there, doesn't she?"

"I don't think so at all. Look at this." Aizen pressed a button on his chair and the camera zoomed out, revealing that the entire Fifth Division was buzzing like an anthill after a cave-in. Almost twenty five hundred Shinigami were running about packing, checking, packing things they had almost forgotten, and double checking. Internally, Gin was laughing uproariously; and Shinsou's amusement wasn't making it any easier to limit himself to his usual grin. _This_ was going to be fun.

"Ya know, Aizen, I'm almost sure I don't remember you telling her to bring the whole Division."

"No, I certainly did not." Aizen took a sip of tea from the cup he had been keeping on the right arm of his chair. "Although, to be fair, I may have been a tad vague. I believe I told her that she could bring anyone she wished from the Division." He zoomed back in on Hinamori, who had gotten to her feet and was directing traffic once again. "I had intended for her to bring only three or four close friends. Even then, I only wanted those along so that she did not feel as though she had abandoned people she was responsible for and personally cared about. I need her to believe in what she's doing, or she will be worthless. It appears, however, that Hinamori-kun had other plans."

"So, what'cha gonna do? Can she keep 'em?" On the last question, Gin intentionally mimicked the imploring, yet slightly whiny voice a little girl might use when asking to keep a small animal she had found in the back yard.

"I will answer your question if you can answer mine, Gin. Which is easier to defeat, the Gotei Thirteen or the Gotei Twelve?" Aizen turned to face his first and oldest student. Tousen wasn't important, he was simply a Shinigami who detested the status quo. He was merely on Aizen's side by coincidence, and thus wasn't to be fully trusted. He was, in Aizen's mind, expendable. Gin, however, was another story.

Aizen remembered when he had first met Gin, the night when, as a boy, he had attacked and killed the Division's third seat. He recognized a great deal of potential in the violent youngster, and hoped to get him under control before he was caught and sent to the Maggot's Nest or executed. Teaching Gin to think logically and control himself had been challenging, but rewarding. Although Gin had been extremely stubborn and belligerent, he had learned eventually and learned well. Very few things had pleased Aizen so much as the first time his then-Lieutenant had solved a conflict by talking someone down. To be more precise, Gin had deliberately lead the rebellious officer around in some of the most confusing circles of pseudo-logic and paradox Aizen had ever seen. By the time Gin was done toying with him, the poor man had contradicted himself five times and was too busy questioning his own existence to resist capture. _You've come a very long way, Ichimaru Gin._

"Another thinking game, Aizen? Fine, I get it. Even though the Division is pathetically weak, the most important thing is the emptiness they'll leave in Seiretei. The morale effect of having a full division leave, putting a huge hole in the Seiretei, would be worth three Espada, right?"

"Precisely." Aizen took another sip of tea. "And as a wise man once said, 'Counter emptiness with fullness, fullness with emptiness.'"

"Sun Tzu, Art of War, Chapter concerning Emptiness and Fullness. That's our _hole_ reason for being here, isn't it?" Gin's double-pun on the "emptiness" of their "Hollow" allies was rewarded when Aizen chuckled. Despite the fact that Gin was pretending to have a completely incorrect idea of their motivations, the usually taciturn leader of Hueco Mundo had a serious weakness for wordplay.

"Ooh, look, they're ready to go." Gin said as he pointed at the view-screen's image of the courtyard. Hinamori and the entire Fifth Division were just finishing gathering in front of the barracks. She appeared to be yelling out a few last orders.

"Hmm." Aizen agreed in his usual semi-grunt. "She knows they don't have any time to waste. The Captain of Second Division will come looking for her Lieutenant shortly." A red dot, accompanied by soft beeping, lit up in the miniature map of Seiretei in the upper left hand corner of Aizen's viewer. He reached out and tapped it, and the viewer switched from the Fifth Division to a northern street, down which Soi Fon and several other Secret Mobile Corps officers were currently running.

"Uh-oh." Gin said in a sing-song voice. "Looks like Hinamori-chan will have to fight her way out after all."

"Not necessarily, Gin." Aizen stood up, and the viewer automatically switched into standby mode. A two-headed indigo falcon superimposed on a unified sun and crescent moon, Aizen's insignia, came on as a screen-saver. "Come."

"Hai, hai, haiiii!" Gin responded with the first three notes of the "Superman Theme" as he followed.

* * *

"Alright, everyone, listen up!" Hinamori called out as she shouldered her pack. "We can't afford to have anyone unconvinced with us when we go. From the moment we take off, there's no turning back. Anyone who isn't absolutely sure about what you're doing, please turn around now."

"What the hell are you talking about, Lieutenant?" Their sixth seat shot back. "If I wasn't sure, I would have gone back to the Second Division! Let's go!" The rest of the Division shouted their agreement.

"Excellent! Okay, everyone who can't fly, grab onto someone who can!" Most of the younger, less experienced Division members grabbed onto their more powerful comrades, most looking a bit queasy at the prospect of leaving the ground. Sasha was somehow carrying three people. Armin, on the other hand, was having problems with just one. The new academy graduate whom Sasha had comforted during the meeting was standing rather painfully on Armin's left foot, and was clutching his arm much too tightly. Hinamori grinned at his situation and long-suffering expression, then turned to face away from the barracks.

"Take off on three!" Hinamori shouted. All chatter stopped immediately as the Division braced for takeoff. "One!" She could feel the adrenaline rush building. "Two!" The tension in the air was almost tangible. "Three!" She kicked off the ground and into the sunrise, 2500 Shinigami behind her.

Several people yelled, some in terror, some in delight. Hinamori couldn't hear them. She was enjoying the feeling of the wind in her hair and the beams of the rising sun on her face. She closed her eyes and simply _flew_, relishing the freedom of the sky. It struck her as a fitting metaphor for what she was doing. She was leaving the ground of Soul Society and flying to freedom and her Captain. She was so preoccupied that she didn't notice Armin until he flew up next to her.

"Hinamori-dono!" He cried.

"Yes?" She snapped herself back to reality. _There will be time to fly later, damn it, stay focused!_

"Several spiritual presences are approaching from the north-east. It's Captain Soi Fon." Armin's face was taught with worry, and the girl he was carrying looked close to panic.

"Alright, then, have them form up behind me. We'll wait for Captian Aizen here." Hinamori knew perfectly well that she had no chance of defeating Soi Fon, despite the fact that she was one of the weaker Captains. Hinamori estimated, however, that she could hold Soi Fon off for three minutes if she used every trick she knew. That was more than enough time for Aizen to rescue them, if he hurried. _That's too many "ifs,"_ thought Hinamori, _just get here soon, Captain!_

"Hai." Armin replied, and flew back down to the rest of the Division. "Get on my back," he told his passenger, "I will probably need to use Meergottin."

"H-Hai." She stammered nervously and clambered onto his back.

"Oi, everyone!" Armin called out to the Division, "regroup behind the Lieutenant and be ready to support with kido. Officers, release your Zanpakto the moment the battle begins. Unranked soldiers, do not attack with Zanpakto unless you see a clear opening, understood? I don't want to lose anyone before we even get there!"

"Hai!" They called out and zoomed over behind their Lieutenant. All of them were hoping that they wouldn't have to fight. Many of them still hadn't fully registered that they would have to fight the Shinigami, or hoped that it could somehow be avoided. Thousands of nervous soldiers stood out against the morning sky.

_Not good._ Thought Armin as he glided up to Hinamori's side. _The whole damn Seiretei can see us! If Captain Aizen doesn't get here soon, we'll be overrun!_ He felt something a thousand feet below. _Shit! They're at the barracks! She's probably already found Oomaeda!_ He drew his zanpakto, but didn't have time to admire the way she shone in the orange and pink light of the sunrise. He saw and heard the other officers doing the same, although no one released. His passenger, he thought her name was Ailia, squirmed in terror at the thought of the coming fight.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just don't touch my arms and be ready to fire kido shots over my shoulder. What's the highest level attack spell you can use without the incantation?" He looked over his shoulder to the girl on his back.

"Number 4, Byakurai, sir." She looked like she was about to be sick.

"That's good enough. Just don't miss." He tried to smile reassuringly, although he was sure he wasn't the best person for this job. She looked slightly comforted. Armin was amazed that he had actually had a measure of success, as he usually scared people by mistake.

An explosion suddenly ripped from the barracks, almost knocking the over-laden Sasha out of the air. Seven small figures shot up from the fireball toward them. Soi Fon had made her intentions perfectly clear.

"Everyone! Fire your most powerful spells at my target!" Hinamori called out on a sudden flash of inspiration. She held her hands out in front of her and focused her energy there, preparing to release. "Hado 66, Souren Soukatsui!" Twin blasts of blue fire burst from her hands and shot toward a huge, immediately recognizable building several thousand feet away. Armin instantly realized what she was doing and grinned.

"Hado 63, Raikoho!" He cried, shooting a massive streak of lightning out of his palm at the Shinigami Research and Development Institute. _This will make that bastard Kurotsuchi work overtime for months! _The rest of the Division opened fire on the Institute, pulverizing the walls under a withering barrage of Byakurai, Shakahou, and Soukatsui.

"Fuck!" Hinamori could hear Soi Fon curse from below as the Institute exploded in a tremendous orange flash. A very unpleasant looking purple smoke leaked out from the ruined building and began spreading over Seiretei. Hinamori couldn't quite make out the effects on the nearby individuals from so high in the air, but several adjacent buildings were already beginning to grow thick coats of black mold at an absurd speed. Soi Fon and the others changed course and dashed off to try to control the damage. _Crisis averted, or caused as the case may be. _ Hinamori allowed herself a moment of smug triumph as complete chaos erupted below her, but a low growling sound behind her made her turn around. What she saw coming out of the Garganta which had just opened left her stunned.

It was Aizen, but, it wasn't Aizen. His glasses were gone, giving his face a more sleek, streamlined affect. His eyes were sharp and perceptive, yet serene and in control. His hair was slicked back, but he had left a lock hanging over his face. Instead of a Shinigami uniform, he wore a long white jacket over a white shirt and hakama with a dark red sash. But even more than the change in appearance, his demeanor had totally transformed. The man before her was no longer Captain Aizen. _But who is he?_

The man took in the situation in a split second, then looked at her and smiled, possibly sensing her nervousness.

"That was quite clever of you, Hinamori-kun. Forcing your pursuers to stop chasing you in order to rescue someone else while you dealt such a devastating blow to their army was the perfect maneuver for that situation." He came forward and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "You didn't even need my assistance. You should be very proud of what you did today," he lifted his hand and turned to the rest of them, "all of you!" A cheer went up from the rebels.

_So that's who he is._ Aizen Sousuke wasn't speaking to them as a mentor to his students, or even as a Captain to his men. The way he carried himself with unshakeable confidence, the way he spoke with certainty and power, it all left no room for doubt. _The Captain's Haori was always to small for him, wasn't it?_ Captain Aizen had been someone that they could fight under without fear, but the new Aizen was someone they could fight for without regret. Aizen Sousuke was a king, and Hinamori had never been more confident. As long as they stood behind this man, they were invincible.

Aizen was sincerely impressed with his Division's performance. While not as important as he was allowing them to think, their victory had been a great stroke of luck. Their total destruction of the SRDI made his self-appointed task slightly easier. Mayuri's research projects were one of the few things he wasn't easily able to predict. Putting Mayuri out of the way for months repairing his facility would give Szayel-Apporo Granz that much of a head start. He hadn't been expecting that level of resourcefulness out of the weak Shinigami. _Maybe,_ he thought_, they do have the potential to be useful in their own rights._

"Come!" he called, "We must not waste time here." He lead the way to his Garganta, which Gin had kept open and guarded. Hinamori was the first to follow, smiling wider than she had in years. The rest of the Division followed their Lieutenant, with her most trusted soldiers, Armin and Sasha, as rearguard.

* * *

First Division

A hell butterfly landed on Captain Commander Yamamoto's finger as he sat at his desk twenty minutes later. The Gotei 13 were still trying to figure out what had happened earlier, and he was finally receiving Captain Soi Fon's report. Now, he hoped, he would discover why the SRDI was a smoking ruin, half of Seiretei was covered in some kind of black mold which was proving impossible to kill, and several shinigami were mysteriously impossible to contact. Given the results of today's accident, he would have been given to suspect one of Captain Kurotsuchi's unauthorised experiments. Given the circumstances, however, he didn't know what to think.

His Lieutenant could only hear the Captain Commander's side of the following conversation, but he didn't need anything else.

"Yes, Captain Soi Fon? What is your status?" The old man's grumpy voice always seemed to echo in any given room.

"What?!" He shouted so loudly that Sasakibe fell out of his chair. He quickly stood up and brushed himself off. This was not good.

"Could you repeat that, Captain? I'm almost sure I heard you say that an entire Division has just defected." _Holy shit! An entire Division?!_ Sasakibe was understandably shocked. He heard Soi Fon's voice in response, but it was too quiet to make out.

"Is the Third Division still there?" A pause. "Well, at least Lieutenant Kira isn't insane, unlike someone we know. What about the Research and Development Institute? Any news from them?" _So it was the Fifth?! Hinamori... No, she's too weak. There's no way she could have gotten the courage to do this. It must have been that fourth seat of theirs, I always thought he was dangerous. There's no way we could have misjudged Hinamori that badly, she's a weakling and a fool. Hidaka, on the other hand, I could imagine leading them all into this._

"Wait, let me make sure I have all of this correctly, Captain Soi Fon. It will take six months to completely rebuild the structures, and much of the research may never be recovered?" Sasakibe felt a bit unsteady and propped himself up on the wall with one arm. He had never even heard of anything remotely as catastrophic as the events of today. This made even the Quincy War with its obscene casualty ratio look like a minor hiccup! An entire _Division _had defected to the Hollows! _Just what the HELL happened over the past few days, anyway? First, Aizen, of all people, goes mad, now his whole Division followed him?! The bloody world is upside-down!_

Tenth Division

Hitsugaya sat at his desk staring at untouched paperwork, forehead wrinkled in worry. Ever since that early-morning explosion at the SRDI, Hinamori's entire Division had been missing in action. The young Captain was agonizing over what might have happened to his childhood friend. He wondered if Aizen had kidnapped her during the confusion of the explosion, or maybe the explosion itself was responsible. He didn't even look up when his Lieutenant walked slowly into the room.

"Captain?" Matsumoto asked softly. "May I come in?"

"Certainly." Hitsugaya replied stiffly. _Wait a minute, since when does she ASK?!_

Matsumoto quickly walked over to his desk, she made no move to irritate him or make small talk today. This surprisingly polite behavior and her uncharacteristically serious expression only added to Hitsugaya's worries.

"Here, Captain. It's the report on the events of this morning." She placed the paper down in front of him, then left the room in a hurry. She clearly did not want to be in the room to feel her Captain's wrath after his reaction to the news.

Her attitude wasn't helping Hitsugaya at all. _No,_ he thought_, she can't have been killed. She just can't have, and certainly not by one of Kurotsuchi's experiment failures!_ He slowly worked up his courage and read the report, almost expecting the worst.

Matsumoto couldn't resist. She leaned slightly into the doorway just in time to see Hitsugaya's terrified expression change to one of abject shock. His mouth hung slightly open and his eyebrows were almost up to his hairline as he continued reading. He only got halfway through the report.

He roared and tore the paper in half as he jumped over his desk, scattering forms everywhere. He ripped Hyorinmaru out of his sheath and threw him across the room. The zanpakto stuck quivering into the wall just inches from Matsumoto's concealed head.

"What the FUCK, Hinamori?" He screamed, then paused, panting. Matsumoto was stunned, she hadn't expected him to react so violently. But then, given the past week, she didn't know why she bothered to 'expect' anything anymore. She turned and ran for her life, and so missed what happened next.

"What are you doing, Momo?" Hitsugaya whispered to himself, staring at the floor. A single tear came down his right cheek, breaking a long-held seal. The confident, self possessed Captain he pretended to be disappeared, and a confused, betrayed young boy collapsed onto the ground and cried.

**Sorry, everyone, this chapter simply refused to come out properly. I just couldn't make the scene where Aizen gets them out work the way I wanted it to. -Growls in frustration- But finals are gaining on me, and I wanted to get this chapter up before I have to take a break. I promise that I'll tell you why Aizen changed his mind about killing Hinamori next chapter!**

**I was going to explain Aizen's heraldry here, but I think it would be better if he explained it later on.**

**About the rather large number of OCs that are very prominent in this story: when I was starting this story, it was just Hinamori going to Hueco Mundo, but she really needed her own "supporting cast." The Arrancar weren't working, they're Aizen's, and Hinamori would have been totally isolated if she'd gone alone. She needed some of her own people, so I went with the obvious choice. Besides, I plan on having a lot of fun with their abilities!**


	4. Las Noches

The rebels moved quickly despite carrying enough equipment to sustain themselves for two months. Aizen lead the way at a gentle run, forming a surprisingly ornate mosaic road of spirit particles before him in the formless dark.

Hinamori, directly behind, never took her eyes off him. She was still taking in this new Aizen, still adjusting to him. He intrigued her in a way he never had before. Her earlier observation still resonated, he wasn't a Captain anymore. She had never met anyone who struck her as being, there was no other word for it, "royal." Even though she had never seen it before, she still recognized his new nature immediately. Previously, Aizen had been warm and gentle, and she wondered if there was still some of that in him. She wasn't concerned at all with his new role, she would follow him no matter what she called him, or he called himself. The question occupying her mind was simple, _How much has he changed?_

Though he had expected his subordinates to do their duty, he had never been what one would call demanding. He had tolerated almost any amount of screwing-up from his subordinates. Even Sasha's infamous Shikai disaster, which had nearly destroyed the left wing of the Barracks, had met with only a mild rebuke and an order to clean up the mess. She could already tell how different his expectations and attitude had become, even his pace demanded that they keep up. He would be asking a lot of them now, more than he ever had. It made sense, overthrowing Soul Society was hardly going to be a task for the weak or uncommitted. It flattered her, that he had chosen her and the soldiers she commanded for this mission. She was determined that every one of her soldiers would not only meet, but exceed his higher standards, even if she had to carry them herself to get them there. They would be the force he could rely on, even if all others failed and the world itself came crashing down around him. Hinamori was not going to let her Lord's invitation be anything less than the best decision he ever made.

For his part, Aizen was simply glad that they'd had the presence of mind to bring a good deal of their own supplies. Las Noches was not even complete yet, and if they hadn't brought their own food he would have had a serious logistical problem. As it was, he reflected as he effortlessly extended his mosaic bridge under his feet, he would easily be able to compensate for the added drain on resources by the time their own food ran out.

He could feel that he was approaching his destination, and slowed his pace slightly. The rebels began talking excitedly among themselves, probably wondering what their new home would be like. Aizen smirked as he imagined their shock when they saw his massive fortress. He flicked his hand created a huge, grandiose gate-like structure at the end of his spirit road on a whim. He stopped.

"Gin." Aizen commanded.

"Hai." The smiling fox flash-stepped up from the back, where he had been talking to Kondo, opened a Garganta in the gate. Aizen walked through and stood in midair off to the left, stretching his left arm out in a gesture of welcome over the sight that greeted them.

"Welcome to your new home, Las Noches." He said, again with a slight smirk at their astonished faces.

Nothing in Hinamori's wildest imagination could have prepared her for what she saw outlined in front of the moon. A beautiful, half-completed dome, a mile high at least, grew majestically out of the desert sands. Four towers, over twice as tall as the massive dome, caressed the sky like four silver-white fingers, pointing to the cardinal directions. She had never seen anything so magnificent and royal-looking in her life. It made the Seiretei, the Court of Pure Souls itself, look like a puny collection of mud huts!

"There will be plenty of time to admire your home later," Aizen said with a knowing smile that reminded Hinamori of his Captain self, "For the time being, I suggest that you familiarize yourselves with its interior. Come." He floated down serenely to the desert ground, with the rebels following him to the enormous gates.

An arched gate, sixty feet high and made of solid black iron, was set into the white walls of the fortress. In the center of the gate was a massive carved seal, half on each door. It was a twenty-foot two-headed falcon with wings outstretched, superimposed on what appeared to be a unified sun and crescent moon. A band ran around the circle with two inscriptions. Hinamori couldn't make out the writing, the moon was on the other side of the dome, but she could see that they weren't Kanji.

The two sides of the gate slid slowly back into the walls with a low, mechanical growl, revealing a corridor long and wide enough to hold more than six Division barracks. Two white-clad, nondescript looking Arrancar stood guard just behind the now pulled-back doors, their entire bodies reflected on the impossibly polished diamond tiles of the blue marble floor. The guards stood aside as Aizen approached.

"Aizen-sama." They bowed deeply as he passed, although he didn't look at them, and straightened up as Hinamori passed. _Aizen-sama, huh? It certainly has a ring to it..._ she reflected as she passed the guards, who were glaring at her suspiciously. She ignored them completely. Aizen had brought her here, after all, and they would just have to get used to her.

"Aizen-sama!" A very tall male Arrancar with long black hair and a thin band of a mask fragment above his eyes called as he descended a short flight of stairs on the left, leading five clearly subordinate Arrancar behind him. He stopped suddenly when he saw the huge crowd of Shinigami who had followed Aizen into the hall. "I see you brought more of them than expected, but I suppose that's good news."

"Good morning, Erufun," Aizen replied, directly acknowledging his more important subordinate, "Show our new comrades to the North Tower, they will be staying on the upper floors."

"The Officers will be on the uppermost floors, I assume?" the Arrancar, Erufun, asked as he strode over to Hinamori, examining her closely as he approached. The Arrancar who had accompanied him down the stairs walked across the hall and passed them without acknowledging anyone, they seemed to have a different assignment.

"Yes. They will be ranked in order of Reatsu, not previous Division seats. There shouldn't be much rearranging necessary, only a few will be out of order." Aizen turned back to the rebels. "Erufun will lead you to the North Tower. Your quarters are there. Put your supplies in your rooms and come up to the Throne Room in one hour."

"Hai!" The rebels cried happily as the moved over towards their imposingly tall, but friendly-looking, guide.

"Very good. I will see you then." Aizen walked to a set of stairs directly ahead far up the hall.

"Alright, then. Everyone, follow me." Erufun called as he turned and walked back to the stairway on the left. The rebels followed him over to the entrance, the gate guards' suspicious stares still on their backs. The stairway was steep and narrow, there was only room for two people of normal size to walk abreast. The colors, however, were the reverse of those in the Entrance Hall, the walls were now dark blue and the stairs white marble.

"So, you're Hinamori Momo?" Erufun asked, slowing down to walk beside Hinamori.

"Yep. Is Erufun your first name or surname?" She appreciated the Arrancar's friendliness, especially because it was so unexpected.

"Just my name, I only have the one. Almost everybody has two names like you, but me and my sister only have one." Erufun replied.

"You have a sister? What's her name?" Hinamori was startled, she didn't know that Hollows could have family.

"Kodomoi. She's not as 'mild' as I am, though." he said with a small laugh. "Come to think of it, you probably didn't know that Hollows had families, did you?"

"No, I can't say that I did. Are there any children here?" she wondered what a Hollow child might look like. She knew that children actually born to spirit parents were Original Souls, just beginning their journey through the cycle of reincarnation. They were incredibly rare, so much so that she only knew one personally.

"No, not yet. You should see the Granz brothers after tea, though, they come pretty close. Even the slightest amount of caffeine will set them right off." Hinamori laughed. _First Hollows have families, now they get caffeine rushes? Wow, do I have a lot to learn!_

They climbed for over ten minutes, the stairway winding occasionally and passing exits into more halls. Every time she saw an entrance, she wondered if they were finally at the North Tower, but they passed entrance way after entrance way on their long climb. Finally, they reached the top of the stairwell and turned left through a white doorway.

They were at the base of a fantastically tall tower more than one hundred yards across, a spiral staircase corkscrewing slowly up the wall. The inner walls of the tower were as white as Erufun's clothes, but the staircase and the doors along it were blue. This wasn't the same blue as the stairwell had been, it was brighter and it seemed to glisten like gems in the sunlight. _Wait, sunlight?!_ Hinamori craned her neck to look at the ceiling and gasped. Somehow, the roof of the tower had been made to look like the daytime sky. The light from the ceiling even corresponded, roughly, to the time of day in Soul Society, which she guessed was around 9:30 A.M.

Erufun laughed. "Impressive, isn't it?" he asked. "Aizen-sama made that himself, it's over all of what one might call the 'open spaces' in Las Noches. Anyway, Aizen-sama said he wanted you back in one hour, and it took us fifteen minutes just to get here. I suggest you go find your rooms, toss your packs on the beds, and come right back down here. Oh, yes, and have the highest-ranking person on the highest room, second-rank, second-highest, etc. Aizen-sama likes to keep things organized."

"Got it." Hinamori responded, then tore off up the spiral stairs. Erufun shouted something after her, but she couldn't quite catch it. _This is amazing,_ she thought to herself. She had been imagining some kind of bare-bones, desert nomad existence in Hueco Mundo, which wasn't known for its living accommodations. She took the stairs two at a time in her excitement, until Sasha flew up next to her laughing his ass off.

"Ei, Hinamori-san. There's a good reason we officers are on the higher floors!" He turned a graceful spin in midair as he accelerated and passed her.

Hinamori laughed at her own silliness. In her excitement, she'd forgotten that she could fly. She jumped off the stairs, formed a small pad of spirit particles under her feet, and flew up to the top floor. Her door was on the north side of the tower, making her room the northernmost spot in Las Noches. She touched down on the landing in front of her door, opened it, and walked into her new quarters.

She stopped abruptly, awestruck. The walls and ceiling were the same soft, dark blue as the floor in the Entrance Hall, but the floor was pitch black. Her bed was next to the wall, directly under a steel-barred window which let in a smooth, cool breeze. Two large sofas, facing each other, stood in the center of the room, with a coffee table between them. A large closet stood on the left in the far corner, while the door to the bathroom was on the right. Overall, the room was more than twice as big as her old quarters, which had featured a cot and a small nightstand with a single drawer.

_I'll have plenty of time to enjoy this place tonight. _Quickly walking over to the coffee table, she shook her pack from her back and dropped it off on the table. She turned happily on one heel and walked back out the door, closing it behind her. She put her hand on the railing of the massive spiral stairway and vaulted over it. Erufun and Armin, who was already on the ground, watched her fall until she rightened herself and landed with cat-like grace.

"Not bad at all," Erufun commented, "If you really do combine as well as you fly, then no one will ever say Aizen-sama was wrong to bring you here."

"What do you mean, combine?" Hinamori was very curious now.

"I'm told that, officially speaking, there are two spells classified as "Hadou 63," "Raikoho" and "Soren Sokatsui." I'm also told that this is because "Soren Sokatsui" was invented nine years ago, a combination of two "Sokatsui." I think it's obvious why Aizen-sama would want someone like you around, especially considering that we Arrancar _are_ combinations."

"I see," this explained a lot as far as Hinamori was concerned. _Maybe he wanted us along as some kind of auxiliary force?_ She had invented "Soren Sokatsui" nine years ago as a more powerful version of her favorite attack spell, and it had become a favorite with the Lieutenants. Personally, she thought it should have been "Hadou 66," doubling Sokatsui's number, but she wasn't in control of what the damn Kidou Corps called "their" spells. _Pretentious bastards, and they wondered why I picked the Fifth over them!_

The rest of the rebels had already gathered at the base of their tower, and were waiting to go. Erufun nodded to Hinamori and walked over to another stairwell.

"Alright, everyone, let's go!" Hinamori called over he shoulder as she walked behind Erufun. Another walk through stairways brought them to a huge room, even larger than the Entrance Hall. Rows of stone benches lined the walls, and an elevated stone throne was positioned on the back wall. The floor and ceiling were the same dark blue she'd already come to associate with Las Noches, everything else was gray marble.

"I take my leave." Erufun bowed politely and walked out of the room as Aizen walked in from behind the throne.

"Exactly on time, as expected. Are your quarters to your liking?" He asked as he walked over to them. They gave various noises of excited assent. Aizen smiled. "Now, would you like to know why I brought you all here?" Excitement was replaced by trepidation, this question had been on their minds since that morning and not everyone was sure that they would like the answer.

Aizen snapped his fingers, and a huge indigo banner unrolled and covered the flat stone surface directly below the throne. Hinamori instantly recognized the charge as a colored version of the same seal on the gate. The two-headed falcon was now indigo, the sun and moon were colored gold and silver, and she could read the two sets of gold Roman characters circling the symbol.

"EX VIRES, VICTORIA" ran over the Falcon, while "EX IUNCTUM, LICENTIA" was under it.

"European heraldic symbolism with a Latin motto? That's a bit of a surprise, Aizen-sama." Sasha piped up.

"Exactly. Perhaps you would like to explain it to your comrades?" Aizen sat down on his throne, waiting to see what Sasha would say.

"Well," Sasha looked a bit uncomfortable, Armin snickered, "I know that the Latin means 'From strength, victory' and 'from unity, freedom,' but my step-brother here is the one you want to ask about heraldic symbols." Sasha grinned evilly as he shoved Armin into the metaphorical spotlight. They'd been harassing each other like this since long before they met Aizen, and it was clear that they weren't going to stop any time soon.

"Indigo," Armin began without hesitation, "could be considered a form of violet, and thus represents royalty. I assume it's also wordplay on the Kanji spelling of your surname, Aizen-sama?" Aizen nodded, his name was spelled "Indigo Dye."

Armin continued, "The golden color of the letters signifies elevation of mind. The moon means 'serene power over the mundane' and the sun, 'glory and splendor.' I've never heard of them combined like that, though, so I will have to guess that it means 'totality.'"

"Again, Hidaka-kun, you're correct. What do you make of the Falcon?"

"The bird itself symbolizes 'one who does not rest until the objective is achieved.' The two heads, while more commonly seen on eagles, means a 'conjoining of two forces.'" Armin looked up for confirmation, though he didn't think he needed it.

"Perfect. Thank you, Hidaka-kun." Armin bowed. Aizen stood up and floated off the throne's platform down to them. "Though I'm sure you know that the 'two forces joining together' are Hollow and Shinigami, I'm not sure you fully realize it's implications," he said as he touched down.

"Hollowfication." he said.

Hinamori took a double-take. _Hollowfication?!_

"Through no fault of his own, Hinamori-kun, Erufun gave you an utterly incorrect opinion on why I brought you here. He's deeply loyal and very powerful, but he isn't as perceptive as he thinks he is. You aren't to assist the Arrancar's combination of the 'two forces' of Hollow and Shinigami, you are to become such a combination yourself." He reached into his jacket and pulled a small glass-looking box out of it. Inside the box, she could see a tiny purplish-black cloudy orb.

"This is the Hogyoku, the thing that makes Hollowfication, or Shinigamification, practical. Without it, there would be only a handful of weak Arrancar, and no hollowfied Shinigami whatsoever. All of you, my loyal friends, will be the first truly Hollowfied Shinigami in history." This last part, of course, was only true if Aizen's guess was correct, but they didn't need to know that.

Looking around, Aizen could see how nervous they all were. Most of them were fidgeting, and those who weren't were standing so still and straight that they looked like they had turned into mannequins to escape their discomfort. _They'll get over it quickly enough_, Aizen thought, amused by their reactions.

"Well? Who is going to take the first step?"

**I apologize for the long wait, finals are killing me! Well, I hope you all liked it, and keep the reviews coming. Thanks, everyone!**


	5. Hollowfication

Aizen was looking at them, no, _her_, expectantly. Armin stepped forward, but Hinamori caught him before he could speak.

"Stand down, Armin. I'll go first."

"Hai." He backed off reluctantly. She could feel his worried dark blue eyes on her back as she stepped up before Aizen. She understood his reason for wanting to go first, he was probably the most observant fighter in the Division. He would have been able to tell them almost exactly what to expect. She knew, however, that she had to do this first for the sake of her followers. She had lead them here, and she couldn't just back down now that they were stepping off into the unknown. _Or am I just being irrational?_

Aizen smiled approvingly. "Very good, Hinamori-kun. Just step over here, please." Aizen pointed to his right, he seemed to want to put some space between the rebels and whatever was about to happen. She walked over, stiffly trying to hide her wrecked nerves. She turned on her heel when she reached the spot Aizen had indicated and stood stock-still. She could barely stop herself from shaking.

Aizen shook his head as she moved to grasp Tobiume's hilt. "You won't be needing her for this. At least, you won't be needing to draw her." She contented herself with clasping her hands together behind her back, anything to stop them from shaking. He extended the hand with the Hogyoku in his grasp and shattered the box with an impossibly clear sound of breaking glass. The orb pulsed black with a low hum, and a cube of silver lines appeared around her, boxing her in. The lines flashed, a strange warmth filled her, and her vision went black. 

It returned a split-second later, in a scene she immediately recognized. It was a peaceful, breezy night, a full moon high in the sky with very bright stars around it which illuminated the area with a ghostly silver glow. She was in the middle of a huge field of tall grass and widely spaced plumb trees in full bloom: her inner world.

"Tobiume? Where are you?" Hinamori called anxiously. Tobiume was usually right in front of her when she came here.

"Sorry, but she's gonna sit this one out." a metallic, distorted voice called from behind her and grated like sandpaper on her ears.

She whirled around, a materialization of Tobiume's Shikai form appearing instantly in her hand. The person before her was a pure white version of herself: her face, her hair, her clothes, even her lips were white. Her eyes, however, were black with yellow irises. She had a pitch-black version of Tobiume in her right hand. Hinamori had never seen anything quite so disturbing in her life.

Fighting a mixture of revulsion and fear, she hardened her face and asked, "Who and what are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm _you_, you idiot!" the white thing laughed manically and charged, sword held next to her face, pointing at Hinamori.

"I've only ever seen one person use that style, and it wasn't me." Hinamori said flatly as she dodged the obvious stab. "You're not doing it very well, anywa-"

"That depends on what I'm trying to do!" Hinamori was interrupted when her enemy slashed down, shooting an acid green version of Tobiume's fireball at suicidally close range. _The hell?_ Hinamori barely managed to stop it in time with her own red fireball, but the collision produced a huge explosion which destroyed several nearby trees and sent her flying.

"Seeing as Tobiume has two edges, this style makes more sense than your precious Kendo." sneered the hollow, who wasn't bothering to pursue.

Hinamori quickly straightened out so that she was flying face-down, planted her feet on a tree, and pushed off, shooting toward her opponent, who wasn't even singed. She shot a fireball ahead of her, trying to judge her enemy's defenses. The hollow laughed darkly and smacked it away with her free left hand. _What!_

"The fuck was that? No wonder you're so uselessly weak! You think Tobiume's just some retarded 'fireball sword!' Let me show you how to use our Zanpakto!" The hollow was enraged, as though Hinamori had insulted her. It charged, its false Tobiume glowing with bright green flames, which were somehow staying on the sword. _What now?_ Hinamori quickly raised her Tobiume to block it, but the hollow's sword smashed into her guard with incredible force. The leering hollow pushed Hinamori backward, forcing her to drag her feet through the tall grass. She tried desperately to find some kind of foothold to stop her backward slide.

"HA!" The hollow yelled as she broke their sword lock with a sharp downward slash. The green fireball came instantly, this time catching Hinamori directly on her chest. She totally lost control, flying backward and smashing through tree after tree. She finally lost enough momentum that the ninth tree she hit stopped her hard and knocked her to the ground. The searing pain in her chest made it difficult to even stagger to her feet..

The enemy chased her at full speed, shooting fireball after fireball, all much faster than anything she'd ever shot. _How the hell is she doing that!_ She flash-stepped off to her right.

"Ha-Hado 33, Sokatsui!" Hinamori shot a blue fireball at the hollow, who whacked it away with her sword and snarled.

"Fucking Kido? That's all you ever do! Kido this, Kido that, it makes me crazy!" the hollow charged again, raising her Tobiume above her head. "BLEED, BITCH! BLEED!"

The white girl slashed down, and Hinamori managed to flash-step out of the way again. She shot around behind her enemy and got ready to fire her spell again.

"Hado 63, Raikoho!" She fired a huge blast of golden lightning down at her foe, who disappeared. A split-second later, she felt a cold hand on her shoulder.

Hinamori pulled away, barely missing being chopped in half. The green glow on the hollow's sword, however, discharged in a fireball three times the normal size and hit her on the back. She screamed in pain as she shot downward and hit the ground so hard she left a small crater.

"That really is all you have, isn't it?" asked the hollow as she glided down. "I can't believe that I'm actually part of _you._ Tobiume deserves a better master, our Division deserves a better leader, and Aizen-sama," she smirked, "deserves a far better Lieutenant than you could ever hope to be." Hinamori's froze in sudden rage as the hollow continued. "Stupid bitch. You stopped trying to learn anything but Kido the minute you got Lieutenant's rank."

_Bitch! _Hinamori pushed herself up, coughing up blood.

"Go to hell!" She suddenly snapped and whipped around with a snarl, shooting Tobiume's fireball again. Several odd things happened at once. As her fear turned to fury, the thing she was aiming at seemed to fade slightly, becoming semi-transparent. She felt something cool and hard start to form on her face. Her fireball seemed much stronger than it had a moment ago. Her rage gave into confusion at the strange events, and they all reverted to normal in that instant.

"Oh, you stupid WHORE! You were so damn close!" the hollow seemed furious beyond all reason now as it charged. "Enough of this shit, I'm gonna rip out your throat!" The hollow charged a fireball, but released it with a stab. _**Another**__ new technique? I really have been neglecting Tobiume_... Three fireballs leaped out of it, one from the tip and one from each prong on the side of the sword. The two from the prongs flew off to the side, then homed on Hinamori, trying to flank her. _I can't fix the problem if I die here, and I'm sure as hell not letting HER anywhere near the Division!_

"No, you aren't. _I'm_ going to kill _you_!" Hinamori's fury returned full force as she charged forward, shooting her own fireball. Her forward motion had thrown the other two off target, only the straight-shooting one was a threat. This time, however, the red fireball blew the green one into bits and kept going. The hollow's black eyes widened in shock as she raised her black sword to try to block the fire. A crazed Hinamori, however, slashed her own attack in half as she overtook it. The hollow backed up, fading again. Hinamori finally realized what had been happening this whole time as she felt the cool particles coalescing on her face.

_So, she's everything undesirable in my own personality? Everything I keep under control, given physical form? When I take those things back, she loses her form! As I let it back out of myself_... She shuddered at the terrifying truth. ..._I don't become a hollow, the hollow __becomes __me__!_ _I can't do this! Maybe something else will happen if I hold her off long enough_... Hinamori clutched at her last hope: that she wouldn't have to become this _thing_ she was fighting. The particles disappeared. 

In Las Noches, Hinamori rolled around inside Aizen's box, groaning. White liquid suddenly spilled out of her mouth and grasped at her face. As the rebels gasped and muttered to each other in shock, Aizen raised a calming hand.

"Don't be worried, this is a normal part of the process." he lied smoothly. _She was doing much better a moment ago_._ Wait a minute,_ he detected another change in her reiatsu,_ she's trying to reverse the process now! What's she thinking? I've never seen anyone try __this__ before, not even Hirako. At this rate, the little fool will kill herself._ _Well_, he reflected coldly, _at least she brought the others. If she fails, one of them might prove a more productive use of my time._

Hinamori backpedaled in a blind panic, trying desperately to fend off her attacker. _No matter how much she attacks me, I can't afford to get like that again! I can't lose myself!_ She jumped up and pointed her finger at her enemy. "Hado 4, Byakurai!"

"Bakudo 39, Enkosen." the hollow responded dryly as she blocked the attack.

For the fourth time in the past five minutes of their fight, the hollow disappeared completely. Hinamori suddenly screamed as a black blade erupted from the front her left shoulder, dripping in blood. Her enemy stood behind her, grinning wildly.

"Tobiume!" the hollow cried, and her black sword glowed green and released its fiery energy into her wound.

Hinamori blacked out for a few seconds, and came to when she hit the ground. She tried to push herself up, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes and nearly blacked out again. Her left arm was on the ground, ten feet away. She yelled in horror, and heard the hollow laughing. 

Aizen's eyebrow went up in confusion as Hinamori's entire left arm went hollow-white. _All at once? Did she just lose her arm?_

"Don't try to tell me that's normal!" Arata called out in near-panic.

"No, it isn't." Aizen decided to tell them the truth. It looked like Hinamori really was going to die. If he wanted them to do any better, they needed to know what was coming. "She seems to be losing her inner battle, and badly. Don't bother moving, there's nothing we can do." He looked down at her. "If her will isn't strong enough, she'll lose the ability to maintain her physical form and die. While even small children can technically do it with the Hogyoku, hollowfication is not a task for the weak of heart." 

Hinamori staggered up and grasped her stump of a shoulder, panting in agony and exhaustion. She glared at her foe in mingled terror and rage. The hollow grinned gleefully as she pointed her sword at her.

"Your turn to play horse, Queen. I'm going to take over now. Hope you got the Division ready for me, things are gonna be pretty different around here now! Time to die!" She charged, sword at her cheek again.

"NO!" Hinamori shrieked as she raised her sword and charged. _Better even that I absorb her than let her anywhere NEAR everyone else! I've got to end this now! 'Time to die_...' _I'll make you choke on those words, bitch!_

"Oh? What the fuck are you gonna do with one ar-" the hollow stopped her charge in shock as she started to fade. Hinamori felt that whatever-it-was forming on her face again, but she wasn't worried anymore. She only cared about one thing, _kill_. She had to kill this abomination in front of her, whatever happened to her because of it. The only thing that mattered was that she get rid of this _thing_.

Hinamori felt something warm on her left side, but ignored it. She brought her sword down, striking at her opponent's left shoulder. The hollow blocked it easily, but couldn't block Hinamori's instinctive left hook to the jaw. _My left arm is back? High-speed regeneration!_ Hinamori spun and followed up with a back kick to the gut.

The hollow coughed up blood, staining her shirt red. Hinamori laughed triumphantly.

"So you do bleed red!" She charged again, switching her sword to her newly regenerated left hand. She could feel the thing on her face growing, and her strength growing with it. "Ya wanna know something? Red looks good on you!" Hinamori lunged forward, charging a fireball. She held it in, her sword leaving a comet-like trail of flame as she charged. She release the energy as she slashed down with all the force she could muster.

As her sword passed through the monster's shoulder, it disappeared completely and whatever she had felt forming on her face suddenly took full form. _I just had to let it all out?_ _So breaking your psychological barriers is the essence of hollowfication. Releasing yourself, a perfect counterpart to releasing your Zanpakto. _She abruptly took off from the ground and shot up into the sky, out of her inner world and back to consciousness. 

When she came to, she was lying on her back inside of Aizen's silver-lined cube. She stood up as the cube shattered and looked back at her rebels. Their faces were mixtures of terror, worry, and awe. She noticed that the cool-feeling thing was on her physical face, just as it had been in her inner world. She looked down, saw her reflection on the floor, and smiled fiercely at what she saw.

The top half of her face, her nose and above, was covered by a white mask, her mouth and jaw were left uncovered. Her eyes, those of her hollow now, shone out through two slits. The part above her eyes was detailed with a small yellow circle, which radiated two thin yellow lines toward each of her hears. She could feel that the mask extended both above and below her ears, but stopped there.

She suddenly released her vastly increased reiatsu, finding it an effort to keep it all contained. Everyone in the hall, except Aizen, winced at the sudden onrush of force. Several of the weaker non-officers actually fell to their knees. Armin was awestruck. _Is that really her reiatsu? She's increased her power by an __exponent__ of at least four! Just hollowfying increases it that much?_

"Well, what do you all think?" she asked playfully as she passed her hand in front of her face, dissipating the mask and returning her reiatsu to normal levels. She smiled reassuringly, trying to make up for scaring them all senseless by mistake. She'd had no idea she'd gotten so much more powerful that her reiatsu alone could knock some of them over.

"That... That was amazing, Hinamori-san! Kakaya moshch'!" cried Sasha, slipping into Russian in his astonishment.

_Amazing, indeed_... Aizen thought to himself. His guess had been correct, hollowfication needed to be undertaken willingly in order to have its full effect. Hirako Shinji and the other Vaizard were only half-hollowfied, and that was why they were unable to achieve Resurrección. What truly intrigued him, though, was the fact that Hinamori appeared to be only half-masked. _I'll have to watch the others and confirm, but maybe the half-mask is a sign of full hollowfication. The full mask could indicate a deficiency of some kind. Then again, the half version could also be a side-effect of the fact that she very nearly lost her battle._

"Thanks, Sasha." Hinamori replied happily. "Everyone, I have some things to tell you that should make everything go more smoothly down there. Trust me, you'll want all the help you can get!" Everyone perked up to listen, especially Aizen. He'd never heard hollowfication described by someone who had actually undergone it.

"Once Aizen-sama gets you with the Hogyoku, you'll go right to your inner world. Your zanpakto won't be there, but a hollow version of yourself will be. Mine appeared right behind me. You'll have to fight it, but the point of the battle is to break your psychological barriers. When you hollowfy, you release yourself in much the same way you release your zanpakto." Hinamori could tell she was rambling slightly and sighed. "I'm probably not making any damn sense at all. Let's just say, it's a very personal battle. In some ways, it's probably harder than any other fight you'll ever have. Once you win, though, you'll feel better than you ever have in your life, and I'm not exaggerating. It's like you're truly whole for the first time."

They looked at her blankly, probably not understanding at all. Armin, however, nodded thoughtfully.

"I think I get the idea, Hinamori-dono, but I'll have to confirm my guess. Permission to go next, Aizen-sama?" He asked as Hinamori walked back to the crowd.

"Of course, Hidaka-kun. Over here, please." Aizen gestured to the spot where Hinamori had just been as she was welcomed by the rebels, who were patting her on the back and congratulating her as though she had just won them a gold medal.


	6. How to Eat with Crazy People

_I'm starving._

This was pretty much all Hinamori could think. She'd been watching everyone else go through hollowfication for the past three hours, and she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. She pushed herself up from where she had been leaning back on her elbows and looked over at Aizen. Granted, it wasn't the longest she's ever gone without eating, but they were starting to chase her record from that one mission in the living world back when she was a 23rd seat. She shuddered slightly. _I don't even want to think about __that__ fiasco._

Just as she was about to open her mouth, the silver-edged box shattered again and their last seated officer stood up, smiling in her new mask.

"Excellent work, all of you." Aizen called over to where his already hollowfied soldiers were lying around, bored. They had been nervous for their first few comrades, but after a while with no accidents the worry had begun to wear off. The entire officer corps, in fact, had hollowfied without incident after Hinamori's near-catastrophe. Hinamori, for fairness' sake, attributed this to Armin's astonishingly precise report on his battle.

"The non-officers will hollowfy later. In the meantime, I'm sure you're all very hungry."

"You're kidding, sir?" someone with brass balls and a sense of humor called out from the back. Hinamori wasn't alone in giggling. Even Aizen smiled slightly.

"That's good, but there's one more thing I need you to do before you can eat. You need to get out of those." Aizen gestured toward their back Shinigami uniforms. "The Arrancar can be a bit jumpy at times. If you go out looking like that, they'll probably think that we're under attack. I'm sure you'll agree that an unnecessary bloodbath would be a very bad introduction for everyone concerned. Go back to your rooms, your new uniforms should be there by now. I'll have someone show you to the dining hall when you're done."

"Hai." Hinamori bowed and turned back toward the entrance. She nearly tripped over herself in shock as she realized that she had no idea how to get back to the North Tower, but kept walking. As she passed, her friends stood up and walked beside her. Carefully keeping her straight, confident face in place, she whispered, embarrassed, "Does anyone remember the way back?"

Armin groaned. Sasha facepalmed. Arata laughed. "I do." he replied.

"Oh, good, for a minute there I was -" Hinamori began but dropped off as he stopped moving.

"What's the magic word?" Arata asked, shaking his finger and grinning like a villain from a bad American cartoon. _I'm gonna have fun with thi-_

"ASSHOLE!" Armin yelled as he jumped up and violently smacked the back of his head. "There's your damn 'magic word!' We don't have time for that stupid game, do you want to eat or not?" Being hungry could make anyone irritable, but Armin was clearly taking it to extremes.

"Could you please just tell us where is it?" Hinamori sarcastically pretended to ask politely.

"Shot down again, poor Arata." Sasha mused with obviously fake sympathy.

"Two lefts, a right, and another left, then we just go straight." Grumbled their victim, rubbing the back of his head. "And by the way, you all suck."

They arrived at the tower about five minutes later. The officers flew up to their quarters, while the unranked soldiers took the stairs. Hinamori landed smoothly at the very top and walked inside her room, shutting the door behind her. She saw that her pack had been removed, the supplies therein were probably being put into storage. Instead, there were boxes all over her room, ten on the coffee table and five on the bed, each with a picture resting on top. _Wait, we have a choice in our uniforms now? Awesome!_

She jumped excitedly over to the coffee table in the middle of the room and picked up one of the pictures on the left. It showed a white hakama under a western style white jacket. It was, essentially, a more feminine version of what Aizen wore. _Nah, that jacket looks uncomfortable. If I'm going to choose my own uniform, might as well make it a good one._ She put the picture down and picked up the one next to it, but quickly put it down as though toxic. _Geez, that one would make Rangiku blush!_

_ Rankigu-san..._

Hinamori suddenly turned and grabbed the next picture, examining it with unnatural intensity. She cursed her own cowardice, but she still couldn't face it yet. She couldn't think about the effects her sudden departure was having on her old friends.

The one was of a white Chinese-style double-layered dress with black highlights and detached loose sleeves. It looked like the sleeves were held on to one's upper arms by light blue cloth strings. _Now this I could go for! Let's look at the last one anyway, just in case._

The last outfit was pretty much the opposite of the first, white pants with a gi top. Hinamori's head wanted to keep looking at her options, but her stomach was demanding that she hurry up. She decided on the third option, the Chinese dress, and opened its box. The outfit was neatly folded inside, and she took it out. It unfolded itself like a waterfall of white as she held it out at arms length, looking at it more closely. _It really is beautiful_, _isn't it?_

"_Yea, I like that one too."_ Tobiume commented.

"_You're both dumbasses, the second one was the best.__"_ It was that metallic voice again.

"WOAH, SHIT!" Hinamori yelled out loud, then composed herself. _Didn't I just kill you? Besides, there's no way in hell I'd wear that one, I've seen less revealing lingerie!_

_"__No, I phased out, remember? Besides, you should be glad that you didn't! If you had killed me before I phased out, your hollowfication would only be half-complete, you would have no control over me, and I'd end up fusing with Tobiume!__"_

_Bullshit. There's no way it would be __**that**__ bad. _She snapped at the voice as she untied her hakama and tossed it over to the dresser in the left corner.

_"__Wanna bet, Queen? It happened to that Kurosaki kid.__"_

_"She's not kidding, Momo-sama. I know because she used to be part of me."_ Tobiume cut back in, apparently feeling attention-starved. Hinamori started slipping her dress over her head.

_Ok, now I know you two are messing with me. If she used to be part of you, then what would be so bad about her going back where she belongs?_ She spat the last three words more at the Hollow than Tobiume.

_ "__Because I've become a separate entity now. If I'd gone back we'd be two souls trying to fit into one. One of us would have ended up dominating the other, and that NEVER ends well.__"_ She pulled a thin pair of white pants out of the box, they probably went under the dress to let her kick during fights without risking embarrassment.

_ Ok, whatever. But really, why is this important?_ Asked Hinamori as she pulled them on.

_"__I don't know, you brought it up!__"_ her hollow retorted. Hinamori pulled one of the detached sleeves out of the box.

_Smartass. Now how do I put this on?_ She held the cloth tube in front of her and rotated it, examining it from every angle. The blue string at the top didn't look like it was meant to be tied. She experimentally put her arm inside it and tugged at the string. To her surprise, it immediately tightened and secured itself on her upper arm.

_Well, that's not so hard._ She suddenly had an odd thought. _Hey, you, what's your name?_

_"__I don't have one.__"_

Hinamori was a bit surprised. _Well, you'd better think of one, because I refuse to call you Mumei._

_"__I hope not! 'Nameless' would be awful!__"_

Hinamori reached down and grabbed the other sleeve. She was hungry, and not in any mood for her hollow's games _Well, you have thirty seconds to think of a name you like or you're "Shiro" from now on._

She felt the hollow start to panic, she couldn't help grinning at her discomfort. She was getting her revenge for their earlier battle and loving every minute of it.

_"__Not 'Whitey!' Maybe Omom Iromanih...__"_ the hollow randomly spat out, though she wasn't seriously considering it.

_NO! Not on your life!_ _My name backwards? Geez, it's uncreative AND it sounds like you're trying to talk through an oversized muffin._ Hinamori pulled her second sleeve on and tightened the string.

_"__Look, I don't have a name, ok?__"_ The hollow's voice approached desperation.

_Ok, that's it, you're Shiro._ Hinamori turned right and walked into the bathroom to use the mirror.

_"__Wait, what? You... You can't do that!__"_ Total panic. Hinamori loved it.

_I just did._ She said as she looked at her reflection. She had to straighten her dress a bit on the left side, but nothing else needed adjustment. There was only one thing she wasn't sure about in her appearance, but she ignored it, walked away from her bathroom and left her room, closing the door behind her.

Hinamori also ignored her hollow, now named Shiro whether she liked it or not, as she/it _(I refuse to be thought of as 'it'!)_ complained without once pausing for breath. She jumped back down from the balcony to the base of the tower, where several other division members were already waiting.

"Ei, nice choice, Hinamori-san." Sasha called from where he had been talking to Armin.

"Not bad yourself, Sasha-san." It looked like Sasha had taken bits and pieces from different outfits and put them together. He had a shirt with a row of black buttons on a black stripe up the middle and loose white pants belted on by a thin yellow sash like Aizen's slightly wider dark red one. They didn't look like they'd come from the same sets, but they still fit together nicely.

Hinamori turned and looked at Armin, who was a surprise.

"Well, well. I never thought you'd go the flashy route, Armin-san." He really had gone all out with his uniform, a very military-looking jacket with two rows of gold buttons, white pants like Sasha's with a blue sash, and a white cloak broached on over his right shoulder so that it hid his left arm and sword.

"Well, now that I see it, it does suit you." she smiled. He gave a comically exaggerated bow in response, twirling his cloak in his left hand and bending much too deeply and with an inappropriate grin. She laughed loudly and gave an equally exaggerated curtsy in the time-honored Fifth Division tradition of noble-mocking.

Their impromptu parody session came to an abrupt halt when Arata descended and kicked Armin in the back as he landed, sending his replacement as Hinamori's next-in-command sprawling.

"Payback's a bitch, ain't she!" he cried as he flipped off his kick and landed with arms spread. He had chosen the most simply of everyone she saw, with a very loose white shirt, equally loose white pants, and a wide black sash. All in all, he wouldn't have looked out of place on a classical Pirate ship. Armin got up laughing.

"I'm still the new Third." he whispered in his friend's ear with a triumphant grin. Their switch was one of the very few position changes that had been brought about by the new ranking in order of Reiatsu.

"Bastard." muttered the ex-third, even though Hinamori doubted that he actually cared. He'd never been much of a leader anyway and didn't seem to care much about rank.

"To hell with all that! Let's go eat!" Sasha cried and started off toward the double-doors that lead out of their North Tower.

"Wait, Sasha-san, where's our guide?" Hinamori yelled, but he responded with a confused stare.

"He's right there, Hinamori-san." he pointed to his left, and only then did she notice Erufun standing there, smiling and waving.

She facepalmed, but laughed it off and moved on after Sasha and Erufun. Embarrassment, after all, took second place to hunger in the mind of any sane person.

As they walked, Tobiume's voice finally got her attention.

_"Oh my GOD! Momo-sama, will you please make Shiro shut up!"_

_"__...I refuse to be called by any name, let alone 'Whitey,' and GOD DAMN IT, TOBIUME, THAT'S NOT MY FUCKING NAME!__"_

_Then what is? _Her question was answered only by sullen silence. _Then quit your damn complaining before I come back in there and kick your ass again!_ Shiro shrank into a pout that would have put most two-year-olds to shame, at least she shut up for now.

Hinamori was careful to remember where she was going this time. They took one left, went straight past five intersections in the corridors, and then took a right down some stairs. At the end of the long stairway, it opened up into one of the largest rooms she'd ever seen. The floors, ceiling, and walls were all white, even the hugely long, thin tables which ran longwise through the room were white. Spread out all along the tables was a huge number of Arrancar, at least five hundred, yet there was still enough room for two Shinigami divisions. Clearly, Aizen was planning vastly increasing his force, and soon. The Arrancar lounged around on their benches, gorging themselves on the feast which was laid out on the tables.

"I suggest you dig in, at the rate they're going it will all be gone in a half-hour." Erufun advised, then dashed over to the nearest table and, as he put it, dug in. Hinamori sat down on his left, and Armin sat on her left. Too hungry to spend time with a napkin, she unceremoniously grabbed a huge breaded drumstick and sank her teeth into it like a wolf. _Well I'll be damned, this is way better than the stuff in Seiretei!_ _Las Noches seems to take a personal delight in proving my low expectations wrong._

"Hey, Blondie, you're in my seat!" yelled a light-blue haired male Arrancar with a jawbone mask fragment as he grabbed Armin's shoulder with his left hand.

"There are other seats you can have. If you wanted this particular spot on this particular bench on this particular table, you should have left something here to mark it as your own." Armin responded without looking up from his beef stew.

Hinamori wondered if she should interfere on behalf of her old student, but decided against it. More and more Arrancar and rebels were looking over at the argument, and she decided that the best way to prove themselves to their new Arrancar comrades was to let Armin stand his ground alone.

"Am I not speaking clearly? Get up!" the angry Arrancar yelled, flaring his Reiatsu.

_Holy shit!_ Hinamori almost fell out of her chair. _This guy's stronger than most of the Captains, __who the hell is he?_

"What's your name, Arrancar?" asked an apparently unperturbed Armin as he looked up from his food for the first time. _How the hell does he do that? Can't he sense this guy's Reiatsu? He's gonna get his ass kicked!_

"Grimmjow Jaggerjaques, Fifth Espada." He leaned in offensively close, despite also wondering what was wrong with this guy. "Get your ass out of my se-"

Grimmjow was too close and too distracted to react quickly enough to avoid Armin's surprise punch to his throat. He flew backward, gasping for air, and Armin jumped out of his seat and flash-stepped in pursuit, not drawing his Zanpakto. Grimmjow pointed his palm at Armin and started charging a cero. _Shit! Armin, you'll get yourself killed!_ Hinamori moved to get up, but Erufun grabbed her wrist.

"Don't interfere." He said calmly with his eyes on the fighting pair. "This is his way of finding out what you're all made of. If he wanted a serious fight, he would have gone after the strongest in your group – you." She reluctantly sat down to watch.

Armin saw the charging cero and quickly donned his mask with his right hand, drawing his straight single-edged short sword with his weaker left hand and flipping it up into fighting position. Grimmjow sneered at his mask, which looked like the face-covering part of an Ancient Greek helmet. It only had cheek plates and a forehead and nose guard, all of which was pure white with no markings.

Grimmjow fired. Hinamori ducked instinctively at the sub-sonic roar, grabbing her shaking plate to keep it from falling off the table. Erufun, however, simply sipped his drink. Armin quickly spun his wrist, drawing a small circle in the air with the tip of his sword. The cerulean trail left by the sword tip's circular motion turned into a cero of that same color only slightly smaller than Grimmjow's.

_ Wait, how did he do that?_ Hinamori wondered, she had been prepared for the sub-sonic assault this time. _Maybe that's his first-stage hollowfication ability? A quick-charge cero? Come to think of it, I haven't even tested for mine yet!_

The two ceros slammed into each other like dueling mountain goats, producing an angry blue flare. Hinamori had to squint because of the sudden flash. Even the two fighters lost sight of each other in the glare of the cero collision. _Fuck, where'd he go?_ thought Grimmjow, readying himself for another clash without drawing his sword. He doubted that this little guy would be able to cut through his Hierro, especially without releasing his sword.

He felt something touch his side, and turned around to where he expected to find Armin. He found two swords, a long one with its tip and a short one with its blade, crossed over his throat instead. _What the fuck?_ He looked down to his side to see an empty sheath, Armin had apparently stolen Pantera right out of its sheath with his right hand while keeping his own Zanpakto in his left.

Armin backed off, lowering the swords. He tossed Pantera back to Grimmjow and started back toward his seat.

"Hey! I'm not done with you yet!" Grimmjow roared as he charged, raising the sword.

"Rediculous." Armin said without turning around. "I can feel Reiatsu better than most, you know. If you actually wanted me dead, you would be mopping the floor with my corpse by now. You were going at me with well under half of what you actually have, and that stunt I pulled only worked because you weren't looking for it." He sat down as Grimmjow stopped and growled.

"You're an odd one... I've never seen anyone with the balls to even think about trying that, but you sound like fucking Ulquiorra! Are you all this bad?" He sat down a few feet away from Armin, stretching his feet out towards him on the bench.

"Please do not use my name in conjunction with profanity." A black-haired Arrancar who had walked over after the fight deadpanned. "And you know that you are not to fire ceros in the Mess Hall. Your opponent probably did not know of the rule and only fired his in response to yours. You, Grimmjow, have no..."

"No excuse for your behavior, yadda-yadda-ya. Aizen-sama will hear of this, blah-blah-blah. I'm sick of you giving the same damn speech!" Grimmjow cut him off, pounding the table. Hinamori snorted into her food, drawing Ulquiorra's attention.

"You are Hinamori Momo, correct?"

"Yep, that's me. Ulquiorra is your...?" She wondered if the Arrancar addressed each other informally.

"Given name. Ulquiorra Schiffer is my full name."

"So Arrancar names are given in western style?" Armin asked. He seemed hopeful, and Hinamori thought she knew why.

"Yes, it would appear so. Why do you ask?" Ulquiorra replied.

"I might change my own name back soon, if that's the case." He went back to his food. _I was right!_

"What are you talking about, Armin?" Arata cut in from across the table.

"I'll tell you later." He grabbed and attacked a slice of ham.

Ulquiorra ignored him and kept his eyes on Hinamori, starting to unnerve her.

"Is there something I can do for you, Schiffer-san?"

"Yes. Aizen-sama wishes that you come to the meeting room and bring those nine whom you consider to be your most capable officers with you so that he can officially introduce you to the Espada and explain to you your new roles and command structure. I am to guide you to there once you finish eating." His expression never changed while he talked. Along with his catlike green eyes, this gave him a distinctly creepy affect. _This guy's like a robot._

"I understand, but why did Aizen-sama feel it necessary to assign us a new guide? Erufun's been doing a fine job -"

"Make way! Make way for the King!" an Arrancar drag-queen (_What the fuck __**is**__ that?_ yelled Shiro) called out from the other door as he threw it open.

"Why is Aizen being announced? And by that... thing?" Hinamori asked anyone who was listening.

"That isn't Aizen he's announcing. It's Barragan Lusienbarn." Erufun spat and stood up. "He's the First Espada, and he thinks he's still king here. I, personally, refuse to share a room with such _filth_ as Mr. Lusienbarn." Erufun stalked away, and left through the same door they had entered.

"What was that all about? And why does Aizen-sama allow someone else to parade around as a king?" Hinamori pounded her fist on the table. It was beyond her comprehension that anyone would have the nerve, let alone the old fat guy that the other Arrancar were bowing in.

"The hatred between Erufun and Barragan is legendary among Hollows and is older than myself. The fact that Aizen-sama managed to unite them is most likely among his greatest accomplishments to date. Even so, assigning him to guide you to a meeting with the Primera would be unwise." Ulquiorra said calmly. "And as for Barragan calling himself king, Aizen-sama cares very little for his subordinates' megalomaniac fantasies."

"But letting someone else pretend to be the damn King of Las Noches! Why would he allow that, and why do they hate each other so much?" Hinamori asked confusedly as the elderly-looking Espada slouched to a throne-like seat at the end of one of the tables, gazing at her comrades with an infuriating mixture of contempt and disgust. _I think I'm starting to see why someone wouldn't like him, come to think of it_.

Ulquiorra replied as Grimmjow literally stuffed his face, "I am unaware of the exact circumstances of their meeting, but I do know this: Erufun was the first Vasto Lorde ever to serve Aizen-sama. Barragan is the second, and Tia Hallibel is the third."

Hinamori jumped, "Vasto Lorde!" They were the legendary Greatest Menos, even the Captains spoke of them with a respect bordering on fear. Yet here Aizen had at least _three_ at his command already? And _Erufun_ was one of them? _He seemed so pleasant, almost weak._

She was completely shocked, "Are either of you one of them as well?"

Grimmjow laughed, "Fuck no, we're nowhere near that level!" _Holy shit..._ Hinamori was floored. This Grimmjow guy could have killed her strongest officer a minute ago if he so chose, yet the strongest soldiers in Aizen's army were _that_ much more powerful than him? _Just how strong IS that Erufun guy?_

Hinamori finished her food and stood up. She tapped Armin's shoulder and told him to gather up the rest of their their top ten-seated officers, then walked over to the door with Ulquiorra.

**Just to clear up possible confusion concerning the Espada – Starrk hasn't arrived yet, and Neliel is still an Espada at this point.**

**Also, I used Hinamori's outfit from a Deviant Artist. All credit for that goes to "plangkye." The drawing is on her page.**


End file.
